The Spa witch trial took place in the city of Spa

Spa, Belgium

Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...

 in present day Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, which was then the Spanish Netherlands, in 1616. It was one of the larger and more known of the witch trial

Witch trial

A witch trial is a legal proceeding that is part of a witch-hunt. * Witch trials in Early Modern Europe, 15th–18th centuries** Salzburg witch trials - 1675-1690, Salzburg, Austria** Spa witch trial - 1616, Belgium...

s in Belgium. It led to the execution of ten women, and possibly the death of another four.

Background

On 31 January 1616, the authorities of Franchimont issued an investigation of sorcery

Magic (paranormal)

Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

. The reason was, that one wished to find a cause for a strange plague which had caused the death of both humans an animals. The authorities encouraged the public to report anyone suspicious, such as women gathering in the forest, anyone absent from work, and condemned those giving bread to the sick, in attempt to bewitch them, and husbands who suspected their wives of committing adultery with devils

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

.

The trial

The 3 February, Gielette Handchoule and Maroie Herodes was reported by a woman to be reputed witches. The husband of Herodes gave said that she had once felt very cold on return after having been absent, and that she had then felt very cold. A man reported Isabeau delle Court and Gelette Noel to be talked about as witches, and claimed that his horse had been sick after passing them. Several women were reported to the authorities in a similar way. Fourteen women were judged guilty and sentenced to death. The method of execution for witchcraft in Belgium was commonly garrotting

Garrote

A garrote or garrote vil is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone....

and burning. This was a witch trial which seem to have been staged entirely by the authorities.

The accused of the trial

Fourteen women were judged guilty on witchcraft. More women were put on trial, but some of them were declared innocent.

• Gelette, femme Henry Noel
• Marguerite, fille Jean delle courte
• Maroie, femme Jean André
• La fille Bertelme Herode espouse Remacle Hanzoulle
• Jeanne Gerlaxhe
• La fille Bertholomé Herode estant à marier
• Donnon femme Mathy Cockelet
• La femme Bastin Collin
• La femme Remacle Begoz
• Isabeau, veuve Jean delle Courte
• La femme Jacques Cockelet
• Senton Gerlaxhe
• Gielette femme Henri de Wanze
• Maroie femme Bertholomé Hérode

Of fourteen women, ten were executed. The remaining four were possibly killed in prison during torture.

External links

• http://maitre.cles.free.fr/pages/le_lutineur/sorciere/jllaurin/proces-faits5.htm (in French)
• http://users.skynet.be/maevrard/sorcelleriespa.html